A present invention relates to a remotely programmable voice communications unit, as well as vandal-resistant enclosures and subsystems thereof.
A wide range of public communication facilities are required for ensuring the ability to effectively communicate the need for essential services, such as police and a fire service, without delay. Existing emergency communications facilities are designed to provide the ability to communicate between preestablished points and require hardware modification in order to re-route the established communications paths. Such facilities are relatively difficult to install and later modify, as required from time to time. It is, therefore, necessary to employ a centralized receiving unit to achieve the required adaptability and flexibility.
When a call is received by the central unit, it is then necessary to contact the appropriate provider of the emergency service, thus resulting in a delay, resulting in increased danger to life and property. For example, in rural areas, emergency highway communications systems often provide emergency communications services for portions of the highway extending through a number of different municipalities, each of which is responsible to provide essential services for a particular portion of the highway. Calls must be routed through a central unit which, in turn, relays the received information to the appropriate municipal authorities. Automated parking garages must also provide a means of rapidly communicating an emergency call from a patron, for example, for police assistance.
Still other public communications needs exist; for example, oil burner service companies whose customers have large unmanned boiler rooms require prompt notification of service problems. Once a serviceman is dispatched to the customer's facility, it is often necessary for him to call back from the facility in order to have a necessary part delivered to carry out the repair. Hotels and car rental agencies also provide customers with dedicated communications lines between their facilities and airports and other transportation centers.
Wherever public accessibility is afforded, however, the equipment is subject to vandalism. Since user operable controls, together with acoustic transmission of verbal communications, must be afforded, mechanical and acoustic interfacing devices are required on the exterior of the communications units. Such devices are particularly vulnerable to damage by vandals. Telephone handsets are frequently ripped off, the cords cut and dials and buttons rendered inoperative such as by inserting various instruments or a strong adhesive between the moving parts of the communications unit. Dialing instructions sometimes are defaced, and in some cases the cover pried loose and the interior components damaged or removed. These problems have necessitated frequent monitoring and maintenance of the individual units and can deprive the public of the ability to obtain emergency services.